Finished product: egg microwaved in an avocado. With plenty of salt, pepper and cayenne. And more avocado.

If you’ve looked at any big food websites or daily cooking shows like The Chew lately, you’ve heard all the hubbub about eggs baked in avocados.

What’s the big deal?

I had to find out for myself. Looking for a quick lunch before jetting over to the kiddo’s book fair this afternoon (goodbye, $$), I decided to try it out. Bonus: Breakfast for lunch!

I figured it was simple enough that it didn’t require a recipe, but I thought I’d do a quick Google just to make sure there weren’t any dark secrets I should know. The first one that surfaced was that I could use the microwave. (Oh, you thought I wasn’t going to try that first anyway? I’m not THAT fancy, for lunch, anyway.) But that was about it. Here’s the general rundown:

Cut an avocado in half (for the unwashed: run the knife around the seed, twist, separate. Jam knife into seed, twist, remove. Try not to cut your fingers off while removing seed from knife).

Scoop out a hole a little bigger than the one left by the seed.

Dump a raw egg into it.

Bake or microwave.

Season.

Eat.

While constructing my ova-over-avo delight, I quickly discovered there were some tips that the other guys were leaving off. So, in an effort of public service, I give you these tips for making your own avocadian (avocadish?) masterpiece.

Seasoned base layer

Season the hollowed-out avocado before you add anything. As delicious as avocado is, it needs salt, or something. Put a titch more on this base layer than you are initially inclined, probably. (Disclaimer: The Chew recipe above did recommend this. But they also squashed them, which is just weird.)

Put the avocado into a small oven-safe (or microwave-safe, whichever you are doing) bowl. My little flower-shaped ramekins were perfect. This helps minimize the mess of egg overflow, which is inevitable.

Use a ramekin to season the egg and to pour it into the avocado.

When cracking the egg, put it into a small prep bowl before dumping into the avocado. Season the raw egg a bit with salt, pepper and maybe a bit of cayenne. THEN carefully dump it into the waiting avocado. This also helps with aim, minimizing the inevitable mess (see above).

Use the bit of avocado you scooped out as garnish. Cut it up (no need to be overly fancy; I just did it with my butter knife) and sprinkle on some lime or lemon juice. Or, make a tiny little bit of guacamole. Either way, keep it in a little bowl until you’re ready for it.

Seasoned egg and avocado, ready for the microwave.

I discovered that, in the microwave, the avocado acts as a bit of an insulator. Usually I can cook an egg in 30 seconds to a minute, but this one took a full minute and 30 seconds. This cooked all the whites but a tiny, glistening layer on top that cooked with carry-over heat within a minute, and it left the yolk just a tiny bit runny. Your microwave may be different than mine, so check it at 30 second intervals.

Spice and pork are your friends. I generally don’t eat a lot of pork, but of course, bacon. Thing is, I just used up the last bit of it with my numerous potato hash things I’ve been making lately. So, I seasoned the whole thing with plenty of cayenne for some color and kick. If I’d had a tomato or some salsa (left it at my mom’s…sigh), that would have been lovely, too.

Mmmmm….a working lunch on my way out the door.

So, have you tried this combination? If so, how did you construct it? Did you use the microwave or the oven? How do you feel about hot avocados, anyway? (It was a little weird, but not so much that I didn’t eat every last bite.)

UPDATE: Here’s a reader image from Katrina (see comments below). She made two with the whole egg and two scrambled and liked the latter better. Your turn!

When I have taught this class in the evenings, we started one of the sessions with these chips and a bean dip that was also listed in the workbook.

Tonight, I had intended to make guacamole but only had the one avocado. Kept simple, that little green orb could reach higher levels of greatness in the main course.

For the chips, store-bought salsa it was.

Want to make some of these chips? No recipe to it, really. Just cut some tortillas (corn or flour if not GF) into triangles. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the triangles on the tray. Spray the tops of the triangles and sprinkle with salt — not too much! — and any other seasonings you might like to use. Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until just turning brown here and there. Let sit for a few minutes before eating to let them crisp up.

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Main course:

I couldn’t really figure out what to call this, so I just added ingredient names together until it sounded as delicious as it was. How about Tacos with Heirloom Tomato Beef, Coriander Rice and Avocado? Sure, sounds good.

And be sure to capitalize all the words; that makes it even better.

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Tacos with Heirloom Tomato Beef, Coriander Rice and AvocadoServes 4

8 corn tortillas

Pure lard (non-hydrogenated) or cooking spray

For the rice:

1 c. brown rice

2 1/2 c. chicken stock

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground coriander seed

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. cumin

4 T. chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley

For the beef:

1 lb. ground beef

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 c. tomato sauce

3/4 of a large heirloom tomato, diced

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp. cornstarch

For garnish:

One firm avocado

One lime

1/4 of the heirloom tomato, sliced

More cilantro or parsley (opt.)

In a medium pot, combine all ingredients for the rice except the fresh cilantro or parsley. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Brown rice takes about an hour to cook, so start this first. When the rice is done (probably after you’ve completed the other steps), fluff with a fork and fold in the fresh herb. Cover and keep warm.

Over high heat in a heavy-bottom skilled or pot (I used a Dutch oven), brown the ground beef. Add the garlic when the beef is almost done. When the beef is cooked through and the garlic is fragrant, drain fat and return to medium heat. Add the tomato sauce and cook until slightly darkened. Stir in the diced heirloom tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the cumin, chili powder and salt.

Place the cornstarch in a small bowl or mug and add a couple tablespoons of cold water. Add an ice cube if it’s not very cold. Stir a bit until dissolved, remove the ice cube and pour the slurry into the beef mixture. Stir over heat until thickened. Cover and keep warm.

Using a sharp knife, cut the avocado lengthwise in half, cutting around the large seed in the middle. Using a butter knife, cut slices completely through each half with the skin still intact. With a large spoon, lift the slices out into a bowl. Repeat with the other half. Squeeze the juice of half the lime onto the slices and toss.

In a heavy cast iron skillet or griddle, heat a very small amount of lard until melted and hot, or spray with cooking spray. Heat corn tortillas (one at a time in the skillet; more if using a griddle and its size allows) until small brown spots appear. Flip and cook on the other side.

When the tortillas are ready, you can assemble the tacos. Spoon a bit of the meat mixture and then the rice into each taco. Top with an avocado slice and a slice of tomato. Squeeze a bit of lime juice on top or serve with lime wedges. If you like, garnish with more cilantro or parsley.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are one of the simple pleasures of life; this we know. Gluten free-ness adds a slight degree of difficulty, but only in convenience.

Being gluten-free for over a year now, I eat a lot fewer bread products, just because of the hassle of keeping GF bread around. But I do occasionally indulge in a loaf from Dempsey Bakery, or more recently (to avoid sweet temptation during Lent), a frozen yet delicious loaf from Rudi’s.

Recently, I threw together this beauty. I made the usual grilled cheese, using real butter in a cast iron skillet. But, in addition to some nice slices of cheddar, I threw in some roasted red bell pepper slices (Mezzetta is my favorite if I’m not making them myself) and — hold your breath — avocado slices.

In a word: Yum.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like the avocado, but it added a sweet/savory creaminess that was lovely. You should give this a try, what with all the fresh avocados available right now.

In an effort to blog more often and return to my roots of blogging meals, I’ll be sharing little things like this more often. If you see something I’ve posted on Facebook and want to see more, just let me know.